The 1/2 acre pond or so in the back of my house has a dozen mallards, a dozen blacks and maybe 6 woodies. They stay there day & night yet where I hunt in the same town about 2 miles away on a swamp about 1 1/2 mile long, they spend the night and leave with only a few there during the day. The ones by my house are migratory too as they weren't there till a week or so ago

golferboy426 wrote:The 1/2 acre pond or so in the back of my house has a dozen mallards, a dozen blacks and maybe 6 woodies. They stay there day & night yet where I hunt in the same town about 2 miles away on a swamp about 1 1/2 mile long, they spend the night and leave with only a few there during the day. The ones by my house are migratory too as they weren't there till a week or so ago

I sat at an old public standby Saturday thinking that the ducks would be there, as there are about 50 at a pond not too far away, along with about 200 geese. I watched flocks of geese veer away from the fields and swamp of this particular location, and I'm sure they didn't see me or my spread. A flock of 6 woodies(?) zipped over the dry land not even bothering to follow the creek. In the evening, a pair of small ducks (teal?, mergs?) swam up to within 40 yds but did not offer a good shot when I stood up to get a better look.

Waterfowl react to changes quickly. Weather (rain, wind, tides, etc), food sources, hunting and predator pressure and how long they have been around an area. They learn quick and to be successful you have to change with them and learn from them. Unfortunately sometimes you have no choice but to hunt a specific spot because that is all you have. scout, scout and scout some more if you can. Frustrating but also what makes it fun for me. Hang int here.